Back in 2008?

2000-1 winner Michel Desjoyeaux gives his views about the present Vendee Globe

Michel Desjoyeaux and Isabelle Autissier are two of the greatest names in Open 60 racing, Desjoyeaux having won the Vendee Globe (part of his 'hat trick' with The Transat and the Route du Rhum) in 2000-1 and Autissier having raced in four singlehanded round the world races.

The duo were in Les Sables d'Olonne last week celebrating local Vendee sponsor PRB's involvement with the race that started with Jean-Yves Hasselin in the 1992-3 race.

Desjoyeaux surprised us by saying that the only reason he wasn't sailing to defend his title this time is because he is involved in his trimaran project. There seems to be a good change he will return to race again in 2008.

Thedailysail: Shouldn't you be here defending your title?

Michel Desjoyeaux: No! If I wanted to I just had to say yes, not three weeks ago, but two or three years ago. Like my old sponsors says ‘to win it is nice, to come back is much better’. But we spent a lot of time building these boats over 1999-2000. Two years after that I built a new trimaran which I’ve sailed since then and two boats in two years requires a lot of energy. So I wanted to have time to appreciate those boats before doing a new one. If I came back I would have a new boat and I didn’t want to have to build a new boat two years after. So that’s why I didn’t want to come back on this race this year. I have never said I won’t come back one more time.

TDS: You've won - you can only do worse...

MD: No - I can do better!

TDS: How much involvement have you had with PRB this time (Michel Desjoyeaux's company also manages Vincent Riou's PRB team as well as that of Sebastien Josse's VMI - development of the two boats have gone hand in hand. For example their rigs are the same and they have a spare mast that either can use).

MD: The problem is that Vincent was in the team when we built the boat in 1999 and he was technical manager working on everything and all the systems and he knows the boat very well. But the problem is that for such a race is not about having the best boat but the boat you want to have. So he had to create his own boat and he has been the skipper for two years now. For sure he was able to ask me what I thought about what he wanted to do, but ultimately it was his own decision. We know each other well enough so that he could ask me if there was something he thought I could help with. Also I was very busy with the trimaran. If he was planning something I really didn’t agree with I could say ‘perhaps you shouldn't do that’, but he is the boss of the project, not me.

TDS: What do you think of the modifications he has made to the boat? (Since the last Vendee PRB has a new tubular mast with two spreaders, new high aspect rudders, a new centreboard that can be trimmed and a new keel foil.)

MD: Maybe I wouldn’t do all he has done. The choices he has save weight over all the boat, especially in the rig, by choosing a standard rig rather than a wing. The boat is 600kg lighter and at the start the boat will be maybe twice that because he will carry much less things, like I didn’t use. For example he will only take the diesel he needs, rather than twice the amount, like I took.

TDS: How do you predict this year's Vendee Globe will differ to four years ago?

MD: I hope that they will be able to go faster than we did four years ago because of the rhythm of the race. At the finish four years ago, I said it was possible to make the race in 85 days, like the number of my boat. And it was not only a joke - it was because the boats are able to do that and they could four years ago.

The main problem with this race is at what speed do you push the boats to finish the race in a competitive way? You can push the boat very hard but if you break there is no point in doing that. You can say ‘I will go very slowly and I will wait for everyone to break’ and maybe you will win, but maybe not. And the problem is where is the middle position? So you can go faster than we did four years ago just by pushing the boats but will the boat make it and will you be able to maintain that rhythm? That is the main question with this race.

TDS: What have been the most interesting technical developments this time?

MD: There are not a lot of things that have been developed over four years. For example we already had fin keels in steel or carbon, you could choose between a wingmast or a standard mast, the only different is that people are going for more central ballast in the middle of the boat. That increases the power of the boat but it also increases the load on the rig. Again the problem is to finish - not only to go fast and I’m not sure it is so simple to have a very fast boat in all conditions if you don’t finish. Certain boats are very fast because they are very heavy with a lot of ballast but that creates a lot of dynamic loads in the rig.

TDS: Traditionally new boats win the Vendee Globe - what are PRB's chances?

MD: I think that any old boats that have been upgraded since 1996 to 2000 last time, are in with a chance. PRB has been upgraded since 2000. If we consider that the new boats are able to go maybe 2 or 2.5 days faster than the one I had - I think Vincent has upgraded PRB by more than two thirds of this. And no one has raced against him since he had a new keel.